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Friday, June 29, 2012

Hey! So! Summer Reading!

Finished another book the other day, and it was pretty good: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and How to Listen So Kids Will Talk.

Yes, it's a parenting book originally published in 1980. Yes, I'm convinced my mom read it when I was young. You see, I recognize many of the "skills" in scenes from my youth, particularly the one about listening while saying "hmmm," "oh?" and "so." And, Yes, I've tried some stuff from the book already and I really like it. My favorite part was the section on helping kids get out of playing roles.

For instance, Mac is kind of shy. But that's a role that he might not like to play, so instead of saying, "He's shy," when we meet a new person and he won't say hello, I can say, "It's scary to meet new people sometimes, isn't it?" That way I'm validating his feelings without pigeonholing him. Yes!